[GoutPal Admin Note: The author for this Amino Acid Supplements and Gout discussion has been lost during reorganization. If it is your post, please claim it in the Using GoutPal forum, and I will relink it.]

Well I realize vigorous exercise is tough for gout sufferers. However I train approx 12-15 hours per week on the bike and some days long rides are over 5 hours.

I have been very careful about what I use for fueling as some of the energy drinks trigger flares. For example, I have found anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup (Gatorade, Powerais, etc) causes flares in may case.

I recently did a long 7 hour ride and the only thing I did differently was I tested an Amino Acid Supplement (Vespa). While the supplement worked as it was supposed to from an energy, fueling and recovery perspective, I ended up with a severe flare the following day (and still have some of it 6 days later).

I am trying to discover if my flare was a result of the supplement or the extreme training ride.

The crucial, and constantly overlooked, issue for gout sufferers is that once you have had one gout attack, you cannot tell if subsequent flares are a sign of you getting worse or better.

It is a well known fact that allopurinol can provoke a gout flare. This is the absolute best treatment for gout when administered properly, yet it still causes some initial problems until it has done it’s job.

What people fail to realize is that any therapy, including improved lifestyle, has exactly the same effect if it is benefiting you by lowering uric acid. There is no way to tell easily if your gout flare is caused by new uric acid crystals forming or old ones dissolving.

You might get a sense that old crystals dissolving seems to affect more joints than new ones forming, but this is far from universal. The best chance of judging the effects of any actions you take is to test blood for uric acid. This is not easy, as levels fluctuate from day to day, and through the day. However, you can get an idea of the risks of uric acid crystals forming, and, after a few tests, you may also see trends that you can attribute to positive or negative lifestyle changes.

On balance, you are likely to get more benefits than disadvantages from exercise, but try not to get dehydrated.

My response below may be a bit controversial and I welcome people to disagree with my opinion.

Here are my thoughts…

1. If you have a test kit, next time you go for a long ride, test yourself just before and then a few hours after the ride (assuming you do not eat any high purine/uric foods in the meantime). If your acid goes up significantly, it may be because of crystals dissolving. It would be worth the extra strips to test before the ride, an hour or so after, right before bed and once again the next morning to see how your body is handling all the acids in your blood stream.

2. Remember that all “sports” drinks have a lot of sodium and excessive salt can easily cause a flare up. (speaking painfully from experience) Try drinking only water during and after the ride and just drink enough to stay hydrated naturally without the HFCS sugar and “electrolytes” (aka sodium). See the great replies to my post about salt causing a flare up for better details on this.

3. Remember than a lot of exercise creates lactic acid in your muscles and joints. When your body is trying to rid itself of all this acid, it is not ridding itself of your uric acid as fast (same issue as when you have too much salt). Drinking large amounts of water helps, but if you are hovering at the borderline of a flare up, it may not take much imbalance to push you over the edge. Testing yourself before and after a ride will help you know more about how your body works.

4. You might also consider staying away from the fancy energy bars/supplements and whatnot and build your own out of more organic things. Water and honey (100% pure maple syrup also works) mixed with your preferred natural anti-uric extracts like black cherry juice, bee pollen, celery seed powder and whatever else you like will frequently work just as well as an “energy drink” and may help keep your acid levels from fluxuating up as much.

5. Unless you are doing these long 5 hour rides every day or two, I dont think it is not necessary to use a bunch of supplements and energy boosters since your body can easily replenish your stores through your normal diet before the next training ride. My sports medicine doctor told me only athletes who work out very hard every day need to make extra effort fuel their body with things beyond eating healthy foods. If you physically poop out at 4 hours instead of 5 hours, then that is a sign you need to make diet/exercise changes rather than just artificially boost your “energy” level to go one more hour using packaged stuff.

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